Tag: beurre blanc

Asparagus with Beurre Blanc

12 June 2025

Nearly the end of the asparagus season in the Netherlands so we wanted to make a very special dish. One that combines the sweetness and the bitterness of the asparagus with freshness, the structure of the al dente asparagus with a velvety, rich mouthfeel. What better sauce to make than Beurre Blanc: a remarkable light French butter sauce.

The starting point of a Beurre Blanc is similar to that of Hollandaise and Béarnaise: a reduction made with shallot, vinegar, tarragon, black pepper and white wine. Inspired by Dutch chef Erik van Loo we added some Noilly Prat to the castric.

Wine Pairing

We enjoyed our Asparagus with a glass of white Rioja. The wine is made by Vivanco with three Spanish grapes: Viura, Tempranillo Blanco (a grape discovered in 1988) and Maturana Blanca (a local grape that goes back to 1622). The result is a bright, intense white wine with aromas of citrus fruit and green apples. Fresh, tasty and a great match with the flavours of the asparagus and Beurre Blanc.
In general, we suggest a non-oaked, fresh, dry white wine, with clear acidity. 

What You Need
  • For the Castric (25 ml)
    • 5 ml White Vinegar
    • 50 ml dry White Wine
    • 20 ml Noilly Prat
    • One coarsely crushed corn of Black Pepper
  • For the Beurre Blanc
    • 25 ml Castric
    • 60 grams of cold Butter
  • 6 Asparagus
What You Do
  1. Start by making the Castric
  2. Chop the shallot
  3. Combine all ingredients and leave to reduce by 2/3 on low heat
  4. Pass through a sieve; try to capture the juices of the shallot
  5. Set aside
  6. Peel the asparagus and remove one centimetre from the bottom
  7. Steam for 15 – 20 minutes
  8. Remove the asparagus from the steamer and allow to rest for 5 minutes
  9. Make the Beurre Blanc
    • Warm the Castric
    • Dice the butter
    • Add the butter, one by one, to the Castric
    • Whisk (either by hand or by using a hand blender)
    • Make sure the butter has completely dissolved before you add the next dice of butter
    • Whisk and repeat
  10. Serve the asparagus with the sauce on a luke warm plate
Asparagus with Beurre Blanc
Asparagus with Beurre Blanc ©cadwu

The Art of Sauces: Beurre Blanc

11 May 2023

We love the classic ways of eating white asparagus, served with a nice white wine from the Alsace region in France (Pinot Blanc, perhaps a dry Muscat). We were talking about different ways of preparing them. We browsed through various recipes and found a combination new to us: white asparagus with scallops (Coquilles Saint Jacques). Some add a tomato and tarragon sauce, others mayonnaise or (even) a tapenade. Not combinations we would like to see on our plate. Why not serve with a sauce that supports the subtle sweetness of both the asparagus and the scallops? Could be Hollandaise or Kimizu, but these are probably too rich for the scallops.

Beurre Blanc is an interesting sauce: it’s basically a reduction of white wine, vinegar and herbs, thickened with very cold butter.  The more butter you add, the thicker the consistency, although it will remain thinner than an emulsified sauce. The benefit of beurre blanc is that it comes with that lovely velvety mouthfeel without being too rich. And the acidity works beautifully with the asparagus and the scallops.

What You Need

  • 4 tablespoons Dry White Wine
  • 2 tablespoons White Wine Vinegar 
  • 4 tablespoons of Water
  • 1 Shallot
  • Thyme
  • Bay Leaf
  • Black Pepper
  • Double Cream
  • 75 (or more) grams very cold Butter

What You Do

Chop the shallot and crush the black pepper corns. Add the wine, the vinegar and the water to a pan. Add the shallot, the black pepper, thyme and one bay leaf to the pan. Allow to reduce to 1/3. Pass through a sieve. In total you should have 3 or 4 tablespoons of reduction. Warm the reduction. Add a splash of cream and reduce to 1/2 or 1/3. Whisk regularly. Remove the creamy reduction from the heat and start adding small cubes of ice cold butter, one by one, whisking constantly. Keep adding butter until you have the taste and the consistency you want.

Asparagus and Scallops

We served the Beurre Blanc with steamed white asparagus and scallops sautéed in butter. We opened a bottle of Mâcon-Vinzelles ‘En Paradis’ 2021, produced by Château Vitallis. The wine, made from 100% Chardonnay grapes, is vinified in stainless steel tanks. It has just the right level of citrusy acidity, it is fresh with floral aromas, and comes with minerality and a touch of butter. In general, you’re looking for an unoaked chardonnay, with freshness and some acidity.

Asparagus, Scallops and Beurre Blanc ©cadwu
Asparagus, Scallops and Beurre Blanc ©cadwu